Cougars get win over rival Union

Newton County had another up-and-down week on the baseball diamond as they opened the week with a pair of shutout wins. They closed the week with a pair of five-run losses.

County grabbed its first wins as they beat Southeast Lauderdale 2-0 on Tuesday and Union 8-0 on Friday night. On Saturday at Union, the Cougars dropped a 9-4 decision to Morton and a 6-1 contest to Neshoba Central.

Newton County, now 2-4, will begin Division 5-4A play this week when they travel to Northeast Lauderdale on Tuesday and host the Trojans on Friday. They will get another shot at Morton on Saturday when they host the Panthers in a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday.

Newton County 2, SE Lauderdale 0

Gavin Bailey had his best game as a Cougar on Tuesday night as he led Newton County to a shutout win over Southeast Lauderdale.

At the plate, Bailey had three of Newton County’s five hits as the senior went 3-for-3 and drove in a run. Kamon Shelwood and Tucker Fitch had Newton County’s other hits while Garrett Mills also drove in a run.

On the mound, Bailey was strong as he pitched a complete-game shutout. Bailey scattered five hits and walked two as he struck out 10 to give Newton County the win.

Newton County 8, Union 0

The Cougars got another strong pitching performance as they shut out Union on Friday night, avenging an 8-7 loss just seven days ago.

Newton County scored two in the first, followed by three in the third and fourth innings.

Newton County had eight hits as Tyson Wood was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Hayden West had a double and drove in a run while Gavin Bailey had a single and scored twice. Rod Evans and Garrett Mills each had singles and scored runs while Kamon Shelwood had three walks and scored twice while Cole Shimfessel walked twice.

West was solid on the mound as he scattered two hits and four walks while striking out eight. Sam Shaw pitched the final inning and walked two and struck out two.

Morton 9, Newton County 4

Morton used a trio of three-run innings to take a five-run win over Newton County on Saturday at Union.

Morton scored three in the second, fifth and seventh innings while Newton County scored one in the third and three in the fifth.

Newton County had seven hits in the game and was led by Rod Evans, who was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Gavin Bailey had a double and drove in a run.

Hayden West pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up six runs, only one earned, on four hits and three walks. Harber Reese pitched 1/3 of an inning while Jesse Phillips pitched two innings, giving up three runs on two hits and two walks.

Newton County 6, Neshoba Central 1

Neshoba scored five runs in the first inning as they took a five-run win over Newton County on Saturday at Union.

County scored its only run in the fifth inning as they were limited to three hits.

Gavin Bailey had two of Newton County’s three hits and drove in the only run. Rod Evans scored County’s only run while Hayden West had the team’s other hit.

Sam Shaw got the start and pitched the first inning, giving up five unearned runs on four hits. Harber Reese came in relief and pitched five solid innings, scattering four hits and giving up one run while striking out six and walking two.